


looking for somewhere

by OpenPandorasBox



Series: Slow Show [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-03
Updated: 2013-11-03
Packaged: 2017-12-31 10:20:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1030538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OpenPandorasBox/pseuds/OpenPandorasBox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“And does Fitz usually babble incessantly about explosions and destruction and planes falling out of skies when you have things under control?”</p>
<p>Jemma narrowed her eyes at [Ward]. “Sometimes.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	looking for somewhere

“I told you to stay put.”

“I did stay put.”

“If you had stayed put, Dr. Simmons, we wouldn’t be here right now.”

“I stayed put, Agent Ward, until I didn’t. I’m not a dog you can command about as you please.”

Grant Ward stifled an exasperated sigh, biting back the angry retort that threatened to burst from the tip of his tongue.  Jemma Simmons rolled her eyes, folded her arms across her chest and leaned back against the uneven cement wall of their shared jail cell.  She cast a wary eye towards the lone mattress lying atop a shaky metal frame against the opposite wall, but decided for the second time that she didn’t need to PhDs to tell her it was probably infested with disease.  Her legs trembled from exhaustion, but she’d take her chances with the grimy floor before she took her chances with that thing.

Closing her eyes and using the wall for support to rest her tired legs, she felt the toll of her increasingly hectic and dangerous day job in sharp pangs in the muscles of her lower back, the tightness of her shoulders, and the headache slowly building at her temples.  She tried to slow down her breathing enough to capture what rest she could while they waited for the rest of their team to find their little slice of Colombian penal heaven.

“Falling asleep over there?”  Ward’s tightly asked question ruined whatever bits of calm she’d managed to capture. 

Jemma released a slow breath through her nose, the only sign of her annoyance.  She refused to open her eyes.  “I was resting.”

“While standing?”  Ward inquired dryly.  She could practically hear his raised eyebrows and at that thought she had to hold back a giggle.

“I’ve spent a good portion of my life in and out of one school or another, Agent Ward,” she answered. “More in than out, so you’d be surprised at all the different ways in which I’m quite capable of resting.”

Her reply was met with silence.  Relieved, Jemma focused her attention on the steady drip of the leaky faucet onto the stone floor and tried once more for some rest.

“Marakech.”

Jemma frowned.  Lids fluttering open, she turned her head to the side to gaze at where Ward was slowly lowering himself to sit with his back against the wall.  She looked down at him as he settled himself with his legs splayed out in front and seriously considered doing the same despite the dirt, mud, and what she was sure were rat feces.

“Marakech?” she repeated, forehead furrowed in confusion.

Ward nodded and looked up at her. “18 hours in transit on a military cargo plane followed by another 12 for mission prep.  I had one hour to spare.  Ended up catching a nap in the bathroom stall of a restaurant frequented by black market arms smugglers.”

Jemma stared at him, aghast.  Eyes wide, lips parted in surprise more at his personal admission than its content – although to a scientist it was pretty astonishing – she was speechless.

He shrugged.  The simple gesture startled her and she ducked her head to the opposite side to hide the small smile at the corner of her lips.  From what little she knew of him, she didn’t think Agent Ward was the sort to appreciate the humanising effect of that brief gesture, but it was enough to make any annoyance she’d felt towards him evaporate. 

She let herself sink to the floor beside him, her legs crying out in relief when she hit the hard stone.  Wincing, she stretched them out, bouncing the backs of her knees against the floor a few time to loosen the tight muscles.

Peeking at him out of the corner of her eye, she tangled her hands together in her lap as a sudden wave of anxiety hit her about their current predicament.

“I’ve never been arrested before,” she whispered.  Her eyes widened once more as she looked around at the darkened cell, the rusty iron bars, the dirty floors and walls.  “Maybe I should have stayed put.”

“No,” Ward surprised her with his gruff answer and she turned her head towards him, her hair catching slightly on the rough wall. “This isn’t your fault.  You were doing your job in trying to contain those-” words failed him as he tried to describe the source of their problems, “-things we were chasing.”

“Fireflies!” Jemma declared excitedly, immediately perking up at the reminder.

Ward shook his head and caught her gaze. “Those weren’t acting like any fireflies I’ve ever seen.”

Jemma tilted her head at him. “Think about what we’ve seen so far, Agent Ward.  Are you really drawing the line at explosive fireflies?”

“When you’ve got a whole bunch of them exploding in your face, you’ll want to draw the line there too.”

“I bet you wish we had some now.”  Jemma crossed her feet at her ankles.

“There’s a whole host of things I wish I had right now. Fireflies, exploding or not, are pretty low on my list.”

“We could have used them to get out,” she suggested.

“Not protocol. We wait for Coulson,” Ward stated matter-of-factly them muttered darkly, “if he ever decides to show up.”

“He’s punishing you,” Jemma stated.

Ward blinked once, twice before answering with an incredulous, “Me?!”

“Well, you did cause us to lose our initial specimen samples in the first place.”

Ward blinked again and repeated, “Me?”

Jemma nodded, smoothing her palms on her thighs before clasping her hands loosely against her stomach.

“Did you maybe miss the part where they were about to explode and take the lab along with them?”

Frowning, Jemma fixed him with a steady look.  “I had it under control.”

“And does Fitz usually babble incessantly about explosions and destruction and planes falling out of skies when you have things under control?”

Jemma narrowed her eyes at him. “Sometimes.”

Ward scoffed, but remained silent.  Jemma turned her head away, choosing instead to stare straight ahead.

They sat together, side-by-side, in the dark and damp cell, the incessant drip of the tap beating a steady pattern.  The hum of electrical wires floated in through the barred window near the top of one wall and the buzz insects floating through the night air were the sounds slowly sending Jemma to sleep despite the uncomfortable stone beneath her.

She was nodding off, eyes fluttering closed, head falling forward and snapping back.  Stuck in a haze somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, she found herself wondering whether Ward would even bother waking her up when Coulson showed up to get them out.  But not even that thought was enough to keep her eyes from finally sliding shut and her head from lolling sleepily to one side.

“Well, isn’t this cozy.” Skye peered through the dirty iron bars and grinned wide at the sight of her two teammates.  Jemma’s head rested on Ward’s shoulder as she slept.  Ward glared back at Skye through the bars as he lifted his head from where he’d been resting it lightly on top of Jemma’s.

Eyes sparkling, she winked at Coulson and leaned against the bars, hand resting against the key she’d inserted into the lock, but made no move to open it. “Do you two want us to go and come back later ‘cause I forgot my camera and I feel like this is one of those moments you’re going to want to cherish forever, you know?”


End file.
